MK Benny Gantz: 'Netanyahu Is Not A Murderer; I Condemn Incitement Against Him'

By Arutz-7
Posted on 09/03/24 | News Source: Arutz-7

Chairman of National Unity Party, MK Benny Gantz, spoke on Tuesday at the legal conference of the Tel Aviv Bar Association and commented on the incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to the hostage deal.

"I would like to state the obvious here – Netanyahu is not a murderer and I condemn the incitement against him. Sinwar is a murderer, Hamas and Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards – they are our enemies. But Netanyahu has lost his way and regards himself as the state. And this is dangerous. He is the leader of the misconception of survival in power at all costs. That is why he will not make the required legal, economic, social and security reforms," Gantz said.

Gantz criticized Minister Yariv Levin. "Even in these difficult days, the Minister of Justice continues to destroy the judicial system and the citizens of Israel. He refuses to convene the committee for the selection of judges and take the basic step – elect the president of the Supreme Court, after more than a year. There are certain norms that once would not have been broken. The Minister of Justice would not have waited for a petition to the High Court of Justice to comply with the law. While our state borders are burning, all other borders in the country are being breached, in the name of petty politics. It looks like we haven’t learned anything."

"Trust has also been broken in the judicial system. I agree that there is room for improvement there as well. It also needs to be open to consensus, for example the appointment of the next three Supreme Court justices. We must not reject ideas for consensus without consideration, as long as the potential judges, whether they are conservative or liberal, are professionally appropriate. The judges should also remember that the majority was not always on their side, and nobody is immune to this. The system is geared towards consensus, and that’s how it should be,” Gantz claimed.

According to him, "one of the first moves that the next government should lead is a "basic legislative law" – which will regulate the rules of the game. The basic legislative law is the foundation of the legal system, from which we can regulate other issues: from the number of judges who can invalidate a law, through the definition of the basic laws and the procedures required to enact them. The Basic Law must be passed by a large majority, and preferably by all factions of the House, under the principles presented in the President's House. With proper work, 100 Knesset members can enact the Basic Law and move us from a constitutional crisis – to a historic constitutional arrangement."